Cultural Celebrations Teaching Resources
Explore cultural celebrations and holidays around the world and promote cultural awareness in your primary classroom with printable worksheets, fun crafts and more teacher-created teaching resources!
The Teach Starter team of expert teachers has curated a curriculum-aligned collection of activities and interactive ideas to teach young students about the ways people in different cultures come together to celebrate. Save time on your lesson plans with resources carefully curated by expert teachers just for you!
Is this your first year teaching this section of the HASS curriculum, or are you just looking for some fresh ideas? Read on for some tips from our teacher team on expanding your students' appreciation of different cultures and exploring their celebratory traditions!
Holidays Around the World Activities for the Classroom
Exploring how people around the world celebrate isn't just an important part of meeting standards. Learning about these major holidays celebrated outside of Australia is also a way to help students build a greater appreciation for other people and other cultures!
So how do you do that? Here are some fun holiday around the world ideas from our teacher team on bringing these cultural celebrations into your lesson plans.
Create a Gallery Walk
Assign each student a specific holiday from another country such as Holi or Diwali from India or Japan's Hinamatsuri festival. Or provide a list, and allow them to pick their favourite!
Have students research the holiday and create posters that detail where and when the holiday is celebrated, as well as specific information about its history and specific traditions. Display the posters on the hallway wall, and allow your class to go on a gallery walk to take in the information about each holiday!
Hold a Holiday Lunch in the Classroom
Ask students to bring in a dish from a cultural holiday their family celebrates that can be shared with the class. Each student can present the dish to the class and tell their peers a little bit about the holiday.
Have Students Plan a Holiday-Based Trip for a Teacher
Break your class into small groups, and let them choose a cultural celebration from another country. Each group then has to plan a trip for you (or another teacher) to that country to celebrate that holiday. Include maths skills practise by having students create a trip budget, and encourage them to interview the teacher about their likes and dislikes to figure into their planning!
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Christmas Around the World Mini Book - Sweden
Introduce your students to Christmas in Sweden with a printable mini book and graphic organiser.
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Christmas Around the World Mini Book - Mexico
Introduce your students to Mexico's Christmas traditions and decorations with a printable Christmas Around the World Mini Book.
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Brazilian Tinsel Tail Bird Ornament Craft
Introduce your students to Christmas in Brazil with a printable tinsel-tailed bird Christmas ornament template.
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Christmas Gnome Craft Template – Sweden
Introduce your students to one of Sweden’s most popular Christmas figures with a printable 'tomte' or gnome craft template.
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Christmas Poinsettia Craft Template
Introduce your students to Mexico's Christmas traditions and decorations with a printable poinsettia craft template.
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Christmas Gingerbread House Template
Introduce your students to one of Germany’s most popular Christmas traditions with a printable gingerbread house craft template.
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Remembrance Day Poppy Writing Template
Reflect on Remembrance Day with this poppy template and reflective sentence starters.
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Year of the Tiger - String Puppet Craft Template
A Lunar New Year-themed 'Year of the Tiger' string puppet template.
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New Year's Goals Worksheet
A resource to have your students create goals for the new year.
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Religious Celebrations and Observances – Posters
A set of posters explaining the significance and traditions of various religious observances.
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Celebrations Crossword Puzzle – Worksheet
A crossword puzzle about holidays and celebrations.
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Year of the Rat - Paper Lantern Template
A craft activity to help celebrate Chinese New Year!
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Year of the Rat – String Puppet Craft Template
A fun template for primary school students to make their own rat puppet.
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Year of the Ox – Paper Lantern Template
A Year of the Ox craft activity to help celebrate Lunar New Year!
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Year of the Ox – String Puppet Craft Template
A Lunar New Year-themed ‘Year of the Ox’ string puppet template.
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Eid-al-Adha Word Wall Vocabulary
Twenty-seven Eid-al-Adha related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Epiphany Information Poster
A poster detailing key information about the celebration of Epiphany.
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Epiphany Word Search With Solution
A fun word search to help your students learn and work with Epiphany related vocabulary.
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Epiphany Word Wall Vocabulary
Epiphany related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Eid al-Adha Poster - Information
A poster with information about Eid al-Adha.
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Celebrations Around The World Inquiry Task
A four page inquiry task, assessing students' knowledge of cultural celebrations from around the world.
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Basant Kite Festival Fact Sheet
A fact sheet covering important facts and traditions of the Basant Kite Festival in Pakistan and India.
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Bastille Day Fact Sheet
A fact sheet covering important facts and traditions of Bastille Day in France.
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Year of the Pig String Puppet Craft Template
A Lunar New Year themed 'Year of the Pig' string puppet template.
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Matariki Poster
A poster to display in your classroom during Matariki (Māori New Year).
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Matariki Word Wall Vocabulary
A set of 18 Matariki related vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Matariki Worksheets
A collection of 6 worksheets to use with your class when exploring Matariki (Māori New Year).
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Celebrations Around The World Unit Plan
This Humanities and Social Sciences unit addresses the topic of celebrations. It covers personal, family and community celebrations; national days; Australia-specific commemorations and religious/cultural celebrations from around the world.
- Cultural Celebrations Templates
- Cultural Celebrations Posters
- Cultural Celebrations for Foundation Year
- Cultural Celebrations for Year 1
- Cultural Celebrations for Year 2
- Cultural Celebrations for Year 3
- Cultural Celebrations for Year 4
- Cultural Celebrations for Year 5
- Cultural Celebrations for Year 6